Dryden

More rain is on the way to the area, as Environment Canada has issued a Rainfall Warning for the Kenora, and Dryden areas. 

They are forecasting that local levels could be anywhere from 25-50 millimetres of rain from Wednesday night (May 11, 2022) until Thursday evening (May 12, 2022). The ground is already saturated, and has little ability to absorb further rainfall. Localized flooding in low-lying areas is possible. 

Many roads and parts of highways are closed due to the significant flooding in the region.

As of 6:00am Wednesday, May 11:

Hwy 605, Dryden, is fully closed due to multiple locations with water over the road.

Hwy 17, Vermilion Bay, Near Rhyner's Rd both lanes are blocked due to water over the road.

Hwy 105 to Red Lake remains closed in many areas.

Hwy 105, Red Lake, approximately 20 km south of Red Lake the highway is fully closed in both directions due to a washout.

An incredible show of support in the Red Lake community has led to over $55,000 in donations to support Ukraine’s military members and three Ukrainian charities.

Ukrainian-born Dr. Kostyantyn Bulavintsev with the Red Lake Dental Clinic, known locally as ‘Dr. Kosta’, and his wife have been working to collect donations to support their home country in the fight against Russia’s illegal invasion, to help in any way they could.

The push for Canada to develop a national autism strategy takes another leap forward with the release of a report Tuesday that outlines structural and systemic gaps facing Autistic people and their families.

The 400-page report, "Autism in Canada: Considerations for future public policy development," draws upon the lived experiences of those with autism as well as research to build the case for measures that extend beyond health services to touch on economic, educational and social policies.

Highway 17 has been closed east of Vermilion Bay due to a washout.

All lanes of Highway 17, between Rhyner's Road and 83 Road, have been closed due to water from a flooded Eagle River flowing over the road.

The Ministry of Transportation says a detour is in place.

The Dryden Regional Health Centre has declared its first COVID-19 outbreak, after ‘several’ patients tested positive within the facility.

In response, staff say they will be ramping up infection control protocols as outlined in their Pandemic Plan, to help protect patients, families and staff. They will also be working with the Northwestern Health Unit to determine the cause of the outbreak, and to minimize risks to patients and staff.

A state of emergency has been issued in the Municipality of Red Lake.

The declaration was made my mayor and council earlier today (Tuesday, May 10, 2022) due to flooding across the municipality.

Monday’s rainfall (May 9, 2022), was just over one millimetre shy of breaking a 95-year-old rainfall record for that day.

According to Environment Canada’s website, Monday’s rainfall total beat the current record dating back to 2002, when 9.9 mm of precipitation fell, but according to Meteorologist, Peter Kimbell that wasn’t the true record.

“I know our website indicates that but that’s because our website stats only go back to the 1930s or so, but if you look back prior to that it turns out we got 37.6 mm on May 9, 1927. It was a lot of rain but not a record.”

Users of lake water in the Red Lake community are warned of possible contamination of their water service.

The Municipality of Red Lake says users of lake water are advised that as a result of an overflow of sewage to Howey Bay, water users are advised of potential microbiological contamination, including E-coli and other potential pathogens.

My family didn’t travel much when I was a kid, but when we did, my parents jumped through hoops to cut costs.

On a trip to Disney World, for example, our family of six switched hotels. Every. Night. My mom worked for a hotel chain and could get one free night per property.

Did my parents save money? Yes. Did it add to the mental burden of travelling with four kids? Absolutely.